


7 - "the bigger picture"

by cyn_00



Series: Moreid one shots [7]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Canon Related, Established Relationship, First Dance, Fluff, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, One Shot, One Shot Collection, POV Alternating, POV Derek, POV Spencer Reid, Romantic Fluff, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24183424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyn_00/pseuds/cyn_00
Summary: Fluffy cute dance moment inspired byseason 7, episode 24("Run")
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Series: Moreid one shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746199
Comments: 6
Kudos: 158





	7 - "the bigger picture"

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this isn't too cheesy/cliché for you. Let the boys dance!! (on a serious note I would've given a kidney to see them dance at JJ's wedding). **Edit:** this one too, as many others, I partially re-wrote

_At the end of the episode, at JJ and Will's wedding._

_[Link to the same fic on Tumblr](https://cyn-00.tumblr.com/post/614397108724924416/moreid-one-shot-7) _

* * *

The whole team were enjoying themselves so much, finally being able to relax and even DANCE together. "Together" because they all had at least one dance with each other: Hotch had even danced with Penelope and Reid with JJ's mom. There was just this one thing that was keeping Reid on his toes since the beginning: he knew the slow, romantic song would have to come sooner or later.

Usually, at weddings, _the_ song was kept as last. And every time the music changed, Reid thought that the moment was coming. But the moment for what? He didn't even know. What was he supposed to do? Sit it out, while looking at all the actual couples dance, the only ones that were allowed to dance during _the_ song? But that would've been stupid: he wasn't single after all. Was he supposed to skip that one because it's more socially acceptable for Morgan to slow dance with his _female friend_ Penelope than for him to slow dance with his actual boyfriend?

He was thinking about all of this while dancing with Penelope, as a matter of fact.

"Spencer? Are you even _hearing_ me?"

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Penelope was talking to him. He shook his head to awaken himself.

"Uhm..." he cleared his voice. "Not really, to be honest."

She smiled. "You should dance the next one with Derek."

He smiled back, shyly. "Yeah I don't know about that. Plus, is this your polite way of telling me that you don't wanna keep dancing with me?" he asked jokingly, trying to drift away from the topic.

"Oh no, boy wonder, this is me sacrificing my desires for the _bigger picture_." she smirked, trusting that Reid knew what "bigger picture" she meant.

Then he suddenly realized what Garcia said. _"the next one"._ Were they just one song away from THE song?

Derek was dancing with Emily. They were looking at each other without saying anything: she had already decided to leave the team and, frankly, there was nothing more Morgan could say to try and change her mind that he hadn't already said a million times. So they just danced, resigned, attempting to keep their grudges at bay to enjoy one of their last moments together.

She sighed and leaned closer to hug him, probably also to hide from him the fact that her eyes were visibly filling up with tears.

Now that he couldn't see her face anymore, Derek saw Spencer, 15 ft away from him, dancing with Penelope. For a moment he stopped thinking about the whole Emily situation and just stared at him, smiling to himself as he felt like he was levitating inches off the ground.

He was so unbelievably handsome, Morgan couldn't have brought himself to shift his eyes away even if he had _actually_ tried. He was wearing a black suit, the jacket - that fit him SO perfectly - had satin revers; white shirt with a wing collar and a black, satin bow tie, strangely tied perfectly instead of crooked as per usual - which, by the way, Derek loved. His hair was a little messy as it always was - another thing Derek loved - but a little shinier and with slightly more defined curls.

Now that he really thought about it, he wanted nothing but to take a closer look at Spencer, and feel those hazelnut eyes on him in return as well; and his slim fingers curl on the back of his neck; and the tips of their noses brushing against one another; and his voice coming in soft waves toward his eardrums, sweet like honey and smart like no one else's; and the skinny girth of his waist enveloped in his arm; and the silky texture of his brunette locks, tied around his fingers in a gentle restraint; and-

The music stopped, abruptly, exactly as Derek's fantasizing did. There was a pause, and then the song changed. The instrumental intro was immediately recognizable. No other song could be more perfect for that moment. The moment where the real couples got to dance, while the singles that didn't have the nerve to dance with whomever was left unpaired, sat and watched them. "Unchained Melody" started playing.

Spencer froze. He loved that song. Derek loved it too. Everyone loves Unchained Melody, to be fair. He knew he couldn't let that occasion slip away, and all of a sudden he felt his whole body tingling, longing for contact with Derek's, drawn toward it like a magnet. But he was dancing with Emily, how could he interrupt that?

" _Oh my God,_ this song. What the hell are you still doing here, do I have to physically DRAG you??" Penelope scolded, finally shattering Spencer's wall of uncertainties, like she gave him permission, validating his fantasy.

"But- but what are _you_ gonna do? Come on I can't just let you sit THIS song out!"

"Oh I'm not gonna just sit it out. I'm gonna watch you _boys_." Penelope winked, reassuring him.

She let go of him and walked away. Spencer stood there and looked at *cough cough* _his boyfriend_ and Emily still entwined in a hug. She was clearly crying, how could he come in between that?

Especially after she'd come back, revealing that her death had been nothing short of a show, everyone on the team felt like their relationship with her had now become inevitably more authentic and precious. But that applied especially to Morgan, because he felt like he bore a huge responsibility toward her, since he saw her "dying" right in front of him.

Spencer had patiently listened to Derek confessing all his contrasting feelings for Emily, over and over again, during these months that she'd been back; like her return had revived those feelings in him, that he had somewhat forgotten about for a while. So, once again, Reid couldn't help but ask himself: _how can I come between them right now, knowing all this?_

Emily and Spencer's eyes met. She immediately knew what she had to do. She wiped off the tears with the back of her hand and let go of the hug.

"You shouldn't be dancing this one with me." she said to Morgan, smiling sheepishly. He frowned: he really didn't know what she was talking about.

She nodded her chin in his boyfriend's direction. Morgan turned his head and saw him, letting his arms fall down his sides. Emily winked at Spencer, before walking away toward Penelope, who was sitting on a bench playing with Henry.

Reid looked around quickly: the dance floor had definitely emptied out. He counted 8 couples left, dancing, including him and Morgan and, of course, the newly weds.

He gulped nervously and finally walked toward him. He seemed genuinely surprised, like the possibility that Reid could ever come up to him and ask him to dance was the last thing on his mind. Anybody who knew them could have bet it would be the other way around, if it ever even _happened_.

"Do you uhm...do you wanna dance with me?" he managed to ask, an adorable look on his face.

Derek didn't answer. He simply held out his hand as a warm, uncontrollable smile played at his mouth. 

Spencer bit his bottom lip, trying to hide his own smile, and took his hand, while placing the other on his shoulder. Derek wrapped his free arm around Spencer's waist, drawing him closer, and they started dancing slowly - swinging around in circles, to be fair, which was exactly how every other couple was doing it - staring into each other's eyes.

Derek looked top notch. He was wearing a black suit paired with an anthracite grey shirt; probably silk, Spencer gathered, judging by the way it reflected even that warm, soft light that pervaded everything, creating fluid shadows on the smooth fabric. The first two buttons were open to expose the notch of his throat - which was doing _things_ to Spencer's mind and body - and to show a super thin, silver necklace, so thin it looked like a shiny thread - still, visible enough to lighten him up, standing out on his dark complexion.

After a long silence, Spencer let go of the other's hand to gently take the necklace between his fingers and observe it more minutely. His soft, feather-like touch on Derek's bare neck made him shiver.

"You like it?" Derek asked, without receiving an immediate answer. Instead, Spencer wrapped his hand around the side of Derek's neck, affectionately stroking it with his thumb.

"You look absolutely handsome." _Damn_. Spencer didn't even know _how_ that phrase came out so smoothly.

Derek's brows shot up slightly: if it wasn't for the dark hue of his skin, one could say he was legitimately blushing.

He tucked behind Spencer's ear a strand of hair that was falling over his forehead, letting his palm rest on the back of his neck afterwards; fingers half buried in his curls.

"Coming from the prettiest boy in the room, I think that might be the biggest compliment I've ever received." he replied after a few seconds of silence, grinning affectionately at the man in front of him.

Spencer giggled shyly, feeling Derek's eyes fixated on him. He looked down at his feet, reckoning that he could have easily guessed the answer would be something along those lines.

Second refrain. _~O_ _h my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch...~_

Spencer wanted to get closer to him, if that was even possible. He put his free hand behind Derek's back and pulled him so tight against his front it was like their bodies were melting into one another. The other man wrapped his arm tighter around Spencer's skinny frame, while a hand kept running through his hair.

Spencer closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Derek's, their lips lightly brushing against each other's cheeks. They had probably never shown publicly their mutual love in such a pure and intimate way. It felt freeing. It felt _right_.

Something over his boyfriend's shoulder caught Derek's eye: Penelope and Emily, still sitting on that bench not so far from them. Both women had been trying to capture his attention all along: Garcia was gesticulating and mouthing something to him.

 _"Just kiss him already!"_ she was saying. Had they really been watching all this time, waiting for them to kiss? To be fair, that wasn't so surprising to him. He was going to do that anyway, _obviously_ , but he wanted it to come off as a simple comply of given orders, just for the sake of seeing those two squeal like teenagers.

He could feel Spencer's slightly shaky breath blowing warm air against his cheek, and the ends of his curls tickling his forehead.

Derek pulled away just a little and took a quick look at him, before finally pushing his lips against his, catching him off guard.

Spencer stopped the kiss before their tongues had even touched, and exhaled a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, as if finally releasing the pressure of his whole body waiting for that kiss all along. He wrapped Derek in his arms as tight as he could and resumed the kiss, finally letting his tongue into the other man's mouth; moving his lips slowly but intensely, in sync with Derek's, uncaring of how that must have looked from the outside.

They slowed down, after what seemed like an eternity. Derek cupped Spencer's face in his hands as his pupils wandered back and forth between his flushed lips and his dreamy eyes; both men still kinda out of breath but trying not to be so obvious about it in front of all those people. Because, they were sure, at least the ones on the team were looking.

The song ended - it seemed like that had been the last one. The dance floor emptied out a little; people re-gathering in small groups to talk, some of them greeting others, about to go home. A general murmur in the background and an atmosphere of relaxation.

The couple was still lost in each other's eyes, like neither of the two had even _perceived_ the song ending and the amount of people lessening. Spencer gradually came back to reality and slowly let go of the hug, without saying anything yet; though he was sure the desire to spend all night long kissing like that, without even having to take their clothes off, was a mutual feeling. Just, _kissing_.

"Derek? I- I think I'm gonna head home..." he said half-heartedly, tilting his head, hoping that Derek wouldn't hold back from self-inviting to come over, but not wanting to explicitly ask.

Receiving no immediate answer, he quickly pecked at his lips one last time before hesitantly turning around, slightly disappointed. He started heading back toward the others, joyfully gathered around JJ playing with Henry, to say goodbye before leaving.

Seconds after, he felt a wave of air being lifted from behind, indicating that someone was jogging toward him. And then he felt his hand wrapped in someone else's, his fingers being intertwined with someone else's. Not just _someone_ , though. A _special_ someone.

He smiled to himself at how cute that gesture was, coming from Derek: he wasn't one to hold hands in public, Spencer wasn't sure why.

"WE are gonna head home. That's what you meant." Derek finally answered once their paces had synchronized, whispering in his ear.

Spencer slightly cocked his head toward the tickling puff of air washing over his neck, blushing and biting his bottom lip in the attempt to not giggle.

"I guess I did."

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @cyn-00


End file.
